She waited and waited until evening fell. Looking out of the window, the last glimmer of the setting sun disappeared.
The whole process was long and torturous. She tried many ways to break free from the iron chains on her hands and feet, but all in vain. The sturdy chains could only be opened with a key, and she had only her bare hands with no tools at all. Moreover, all her movements were restricted within a radius of only five steps by the chains.
Yan Xia also tried shouting for help, but there was no one around the empty warehouse. Her throat went hoarse, but no one came to rescue her.
Fear and exhaustion took over her mind. She wondered if Cheng Hua had noticed her disappearance by now, and what on earth Lu Qianzhou intended to do by locking her up here.
Was he really going to get rid of her without even seeing her one last time?
Yan Xia simply couldn't believe that Lu Qianzhou could be so heartless. When someone came, she was determined to get an answer. Even a death - row inmate should have the right to appeal, shouldn't they?
At nightfall, Wen Liang finally returned.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, Yan Xia turned around weakly. Seeing Wen Liang, she subconsciously let out a sigh of relief.
"How long are you going to keep me here? Are you going to kill me?" She was extremely exhausted, feeling limp all over. "If you're not going to kill me, are you going to keep me trapped here for the rest of my life? No one can keep someone trapped forever."
Wen Liang dragged an abandoned table from the corner and placed the food and chopsticks on it, speaking briefly.
"Miss Lu, please have something to eat first."
On the table were a simple dish of stir - fried green peppers with pork and some rice. After a long afternoon of struggle, she was indeed hungry. If she wanted to escape from here, she had to fill her stomach first.
So she dragged the chains and picked up the chopsticks to start eating. Maybe because this place was so remote, the food Wen Liang brought here was a bit cold.
But the chains on her hands were too heavy, constantly getting in the way when she tried to pick up food. After just a few mouthfuls, her wrists were too weak to lift the chopsticks anymore.
Wen Liang couldn't bear to watch anymore. Besides, she had been quite calm since she was brought here. She hadn't cursed or shouted, which saved him a lot of trouble. He had brought her here on orders, and if anything happened to her on his watch, he couldn't get away with it.
He simply took the chopsticks from her and picked up the lunch box to feed her. Yan Xia ate the food he fed her numbly, and tears welled up in her eyes and dropped onto Wen Liang's hand.
She looked so heart - wrenching, with her mouth stuffed full of food and tears streaming down her face. It felt as if her internal organs were soaked in chili water, burning with pain.
Yan Xia's mouth was full of food, her cheeks puffed out like a hamster eating.
Suddenly, she turned her face away and lowered her head, sobbing quietly. Her shoulders shook uncontrollably as she cried silently.
The food in her mouth tasted like wax, and the sound of her sobs flowed past her ears like a stream.
Wen Liang stood there, holding the lunch box, not knowing whether to continue feeding her or put it down. Seeing her like this, he felt a bit sorry for her.
"Miss Lu, please stop crying..."
Yan Xia forced herself to endure the pain in her heart and swallowed the food in her mouth with difficulty. Her eyes were red from holding back the tears. She wiped away her tears with her hand and looked into Wen Liang's eyes.
"Did Third Brother order you to bring me here? Is he going to take action? Is my father... already..."
Wen Liang looked a bit dejected. Finally, he put down the lunch box and said,
"The boss has feelings for you, so he couldn't bring himself to do anything to you. But he had no choice. Miss Jiang should have told you everything. Only this way can the boss's nightmare end. Before this, he had suffered for many years."
Yan Xia knew it all.
But why didn't he tell her anything? Why did he have to bear everything alone?
He clearly loved her, and there must have been a better way to handle this. But he was so stubborn. If she really died at his hands, would he really be happy?
Yan Xia wiped away her tears and looked at Wen Liang in the gradually darkening room. "Can you help me call Third Brother? I have something to say to him. If after hearing what I have to say, he still goes ahead with it, then I have nothing else to say."
Wen Liang's expression remained firm. Without any room for negotiation, he rejected her request.
Yan Xia became even more anxious. "What does he plan to do now? Has he already taken control of my father?"
Wen Liang said no more. He stood up and said,
"Sorry, Miss Lu. I can't say anything. You'll have to stay here for the next two days. I'll be right outside. Call me if you need anything."
With that, he got up and left the empty room.
Yan Xia watched his back in despair, and tears still rolled down her face uncontrollably.
The wrongdoer should be held accountable, and she was clearly innocent. But whether the culprit of this matter was Cheng Hua or Lu Qianzhou, she couldn't even bring herself to blame them!
As time passed, it meant that Lu Qianzhou's plan was progressing further. Cheng Hua and Cheng Yanxi were in even greater danger. She knew the reason, but she could do nothing but watch helplessly.
That night, finally succumbing to exhaustion, she fell into a drowsy sleep on the bed. It was still cold in early spring, and she shivered with cold. The cold wind kept blowing in through the window beside her. In the second half of the night, she started to run a fever.
In her dream, she saw Lu Qianzhou and Cheng Hua arguing fiercely and fighting like there was no tomorrow. Blood flowed all over the place. Some of the blood even splashed onto her fair face, just like when Cheng Yanxi fell from the building, with her face covered in blood. She was lying in a pool of blood, trying to struggle but unable to move.
The next day, Wen Liang brought her food again. Noticing that she had a fever, he gave her two fever - reducing pills.
But her fever showed no sign of getting better. Her whole body was burning hot, her face was flushed, and her mind was in a daze.
But when Wen Liang opened the door to bring in the food, she saw several people outside, patrolling like sentinels.
Yan Xia couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh. Lu Qianzhou had really gone to a lot of trouble to prevent her from escaping.
Why didn't he just end things with her face - to - face? Was it because there was still a bit of affection left in his heart, so he couldn't bear to do it?
But if he really did something to her family, it meant he had made his choice, and there would be no future for them.
Yan Xia had initially suspected whether Wen Liang had brought her here on Lu Qianzhou's orders. But then she thought, there was no need to doubt. Wen Liang had been Lu Qianzhou's trusted subordinate from the very beginning, deeply trusted by him and always loyal to his cause.
Around noon, Wen Liang came in with a tablet and hesitantly played a video for her.
It was a video like that from a dashboard camera. It showed that the vehicle was driving on a bridge, clearly recording the whole process of the white car in front getting into an accident. In an instant, it was hit by a large truck coming from the opposite direction, and the truck hit several other normally - moving vehicles in a row.